Haughton coach Brian St. Andre summed up his team’s 87-53 District 1-5A loss to Captain Shreve on Friday night succinctly.
“They shot the ball well and we didn’t. They executed and we didn’t,” he said. “It got away from us early.”
Employing a lot of speed, quality depth and play around the rim, the Gators (9-7, 1-0) opened defense of their district title with a convincing win that wasn’t much in doubt after the first quarter.
Shreve won the opening frame 22-10 behind three buckets from Cameron Coleman. Toronco Loston, Eric Mosley, Derrick Mosley Jessse McWright and Johnathon Clayton also contributed to the onslaught.
“I was happy we worked hard for a more continuous effort throughout this game,” Shreve coach Todd Martinez said. “We played hard no matter what the score, which is something we must continue to work on.
“To win in this district, you have to be willing to play for 32 minutes, unless the game goes into overtime. That’s something we didn’t do in our last game at Benton. We were up by 22 and let them get it back to five.”
Led by Jesse McWright (28 points), Coleman (12) and Mosley (10), the Gators put up 44 points in the first half, then coasted down the stretch. The Bucs (7-10, 0-1) were topped by P.J. Douglas with 15 points, Ray Cole (13) and Tay Woodard (11).
“Our defensive pressure was key and the tempo played to our advantage – we like to get up and down the court,” Martinez said. “We hadn’t seen a 1-3-1 zone, so that was good for us to operate against it.”
Mosley dropped in the first four points of the second quarter for Shreve before Josh Elzie took over with eight points over the next two minutes. His 3-pointer midway through the frame staked the Gators to a 36-16 advantage. Shreve closed the first half on a 14-1 run with a free throw by Douglas, the only mar on the 44-18 Gator lead.
The Bucs, employing just one senior on their roster, held their own in the third quarter, losing it just 25-20 and came even closer in the fourth, falling 18-15.
Captain Shreve travels to Southwood on Tuesday in a key 1-5A contest, while Haughton will seek to rebound against Byrd.
